Cooperation: OneShore Energy and BayWa r.e. realize a PV diesel hybrid system in East Africa

OneShore Energy GmbH, based in Berlin, and BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH are implementing their first joint photovoltaic diesel hybrid system for an industrial customer in East Africa. While BayWa r.e. supplies the PV components, OneShore Energy will be using its software solution to ensure optimum integration of the PV diesel hybrid system. This significantly reduces the costs for the planning and operations management of the system. Through their cooperation, BayWa r.e. and OneShore Energy aim to make PV diesel hybrid systems a real option for industrial and commercial customers.

Many villages, cities and islands in regions that are without a grid connection, or are part of weak grids, continue to be supplied with power from diesel generators. These are not only extremely expensive to operate, they also have a detrimental effect on the climate, contaminate the groundwater and pose a risk to health. In rural regions in Africa and Asia in particular, the fuel must also be transported over distances of many kilometres. A PV diesel hybrid system of the kind that is now being implemented by OneShore Energy and BayWa r.e. for an industrial customer in East Africa makes it possible to supply solar power to regions with weak grids in particular and considerably reduces energy costs. The offer of optimum implementation of PV diesel hybrid systems is particularly directed at customers such as food producers, breweries, production plants and hospitals.

"If the grid is already weak, fluctuating solar power presents an additional challenge. Our software solution addresses this problem by analysing the consumption data and using it to generate the optimum PV diesel hybrid system for the site in question. An attractive investment calculation is created for the customer and, once the system has been realised, solar power is made available in the grid of the industrial customer by means of smart solutions," says Philipp Kunze, Managing Director of OneShore Energy. The solutions provided by the Berlin-based company reduce diesel consumption in systems with weak grids and off-grid systems by up to 40 %, thereby significantly reducing local CO2 emissions. The proprietary software system enables automated processing of different projects with uniform and comprehensible methods for both customers and investors. This drastically reduces costs for the planning and operations management of the PV diesel hybrid systems.

"As a photovoltaic wholesaler with 25 years of market experience, we provide our technical know-how and high quality PV components where they are needed. Last year, our parent company BayWa AG agreed a joint venture for the sale of agricultural machinery in sub-Saharan Africa. As a result, we were able to gain our first experience in the installation of PV systems on this continent. OneShore is an expert in PV diesel hybrid systems and its solution can help our partners tap into the market segment of PV diesel hybrid systems," explains Günter Haug, Managing Director of BayWa r.e. The company supplies standard PV components. In particular, the BayWa r.e. installation system 'novotegra' is ideally suited to the trapezoidal sheet metal roofs typical of local industrial buildings in regions of Africa.

This project is part of the worldwide dena Renewable Energy Solutions Programme coordinated by Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) - the German Energy Agency - and co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) within the „renewables – Made in Germany“ initiative.

OneShore Energy GmbH

Berlin-based company OneShore is a global market leader in the design of solar diesel hybrid systems. OneShore's thorough knowledge of diesel generators and wealth of experience in the planning and realisation of solar PV systems are the foundation for the development of optimised hybrid systems precisely tailored to meet customer needs. OneShore's software solution consisting of OneAnalyser, OneDesign and OneOptimiser digitises the entire process, from the measurement of customer load data and the system design through to operations management. This ensures transparency for customers and investors alike and considerably reduces the costs for project planning and investment.